Toilet compartment for physically handicapped

ABSTRACT

A special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons is wider and deeper than a standard toilet compartment. The special compartment has an entrance opening which is closable by two individual doors hingedly mounted on vertical axes on opposite sides of the entrance opening. A first of the doors is mounted for swinging movement outwardly of the compartment. A second of the doors is substantially narrower than the first door, and is mounted for swinging movement either inwardly or outwardly of the compartment.

United States Dielman 1 June 4, 1974 [54] TOILET COMPARTMENT rou 2,671,683 3/1954 Heyman et a1 49/366 x 2,776,029 1/9157 Hult 52/239 x PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED Harold J. lDielman, Lyndhurst, Ohio The Sanymetal Products Co., lnc., Cleveland, Ohio Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 Appl. No.: 282,373

Inventor:

Assignee:

U.S. Cl 52/239, 49/366, 49/386 lnt. C1 E0411 1/112 Field 01 Search 52/239, 234, 34, 35;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary ExaminerPrice C. Faw, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Meyer, Tilberry & Body [5 7] ABSTRACT A special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons is wider and deeper than a standard toilet-compartment. The special compartment has an entrance opening which is closable by two individual doors hingedly mounted on vertical axes on opposite sides of the entrance opening. A first of the doors is mounted for swinging movement outwardly of the compartment. A second of the doors is substantially narrower than the first door, and is mounted for swinging movement either inwardly or outwardly of the compartment.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures TOILET COMPARTMENT FOR PHYSICALLY HANDllCAPPED BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This application relates to building enclosures and more particularly to toilet compartments. The invention is particularly applicable to toilet compartments for physically handicapped persons and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated that the invention has broader applications and may be used for other purposes.

In order to easily accommodate a physically handicapped person on crutches or in a wheelchair, a toilet compartment must have a width substantially greater than a standard toilet compartment. A very wide entrance opening to a toilet comparment for physically handicapped persons requires a very large door. Such a large door is difficult to hang on only one of its vertical edges at one side of the opening. In addition, such a large door is difficult to manipulate for a physically handicapped person. The need for a very large door, and the time required for a physically handicapped person to enter and leave the toilet compartment, makes it desirable to locate such a compartment in an area where it will not interfere with normal traffic flow to and from the standard toilet compartments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A toilet room in a building has a plurality of toilet compartments positioned in parallel spaced-apart relationship along a first wall of the toilet room. The first wall of the toilet room defines a backwall for the toilet compartments. A plurality of spaced-apart panels extend substantially perpendicularly outward from the first wall to divide the compartments. A second toilet room wall intersects the first room wall at substantially a right angle to define a toilet room corner. A special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons is constructed in the corner where it will not interfere with traffic flow to and from the other standard toilet compartments.

The special toilet compartment has an entrance opening which is substantially wider than the other standard compartments. The entrance opening to the special compartment is provided with a pair of first and second doors hinged on vertical axes at opposite sides of theentrance opening. The first door swings outwardly relative to the special compartment. The second door swings either inwardly or outwardly relative to the compartment and has a width substantially less than the width of the first door. With this arrangement, the second door can be easily closed by a physically handicapped person on a wheelchair in the special compartment.

In a preferred arrangement, a cooperating latch and latch keeper are provided on the inner surfaces of the pair of doors for latching the doors together in a position closing the entrance opening to the special toilet compartment. The combined width of the two doors is such as to substantially close the entrance opening to the special compartment when the doors are in a position extending parallel to the backwall of the special compartment.

In a preferred arrangement, the doors are mounted onhinges which normally bias the doors to a closed position extending substantially parallel to the backwall of the special compartment.

Preferably, the second door has a width around one half the width of the first door. In the preferred arrangement, the first door has a width such as to extend around 65-80 percent of the width of the entrance opening, while the second door has a width such as to extend around 35-20 percent of the width of the entrance opening.

In the preferred arrangement, the sliding or throw latch is mounted on the widest door so that it will be positioned near the center of the entrance opening to the special toilet compartment for easy access by a physically handicapped person within the compartment. A latch keeper is then mounted on the small door.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved toilet room having a specially located special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons with an improved arrangement for entering and leaving the compartment.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons which is economical to manufacture and install.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons with an improved door arrangement for closing the entrance opening to the compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention may take form in certain parts and arrangements of parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof.

FIG. I is a plan view of a toilet room having the improvements of the present invention incorporated therein;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view looking generally in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a elevational view of a latch and latch keeper arrangement looking generally in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial elevational view with portions cut away for clarity of illustration and showing a hinge used with the toilet compartment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a partial elevational view showing a top hinge of the general type usable with the toilet compartment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting same, FIG. I shows a toilet room 12 which is constructed in a large building in a known manner. Toilet room 12 has a first substantially vertical wall 14 along which a plurality of toilet compartments A, B, C and D are arranged in parallel spaced-apart relationship.

Toilet room 12 has a second substantially vertical wall 16 intersecting first wall 14 at substantially a right angle to define a room corner 20. A third substantially vertical room wall 22 extends substantially parallel to first wall 14. A fourth substantially vertical room wall 24 extends parallel to second room wall 116. Fourth room wall 2% has an access door 26 which is vertically hinged in a know manner for opening and closing swinging movement so that persons wishing to use toilet room 12 may gain access thereto through door 26 from a corridor or other room of the building. Wall 22 may have a plurality of lavatories E mounted thereon for use by persons within toilet room 112.

Each toilet compartment A-D includes a standard toilet F which is connected in a known manner to a source of water through a flushing valve actuator 28 and to a sewer pipe.

First wall M of room 112 defines a backwall for all of compartments A-D. A portion of second room wall 16 defines one sidewall for toilet compartment A, while a portion of fourth room wall 24 defines one side wall for toilet compartment D. A plurality of spaced-apart partitions 30, 32 and 34 extend outwardly from first room wall Ml substantially perpendicular thereto. Partitions 30, 32 and 341 are secured to back wall lid by suitable brackets in a known manner. The opposite vertical edges of partitions 3t}, 32 and 3d are secured by suitable brackets in a known manner to vertical posts 4t), 42 and 434 which are also secured to floor 46 of room 12; by brackets in a known manner. An additional post 47 is secured to partition 30 in a direction spaced toward backwall M from post 40. Posts 50 and 52 are also secured to walls M and 24 of room 12 by suitable brackets. All of the described posts may extend completely from the floor to the ceiling of toilet room 12, or they may terminate short of the ceiling of the room and be connected at their upper ends by cross bracing members as shown at d and 56 in FIG. 2. Partitions 30), 32 and 34 have their bottom edges spaced upwardly from floor 46 of room 12 and their top edges spaced downwardly from the ceiling of room t2.

Toilet compartments B, C and D are of a standard common size. Partitions 32 and 34 extend outwardly from back wall 14 substantially the same distance. Posts 42, M, 47 and 52 are spaced outwardly from backwall lid substantially the same distance. Compartment B has an entrance opening between posts $7 and 442. Compartment C has an entrance opening between posts 42 and 4d. Compartment C has an entrance opening between posts 44 and 52. These entrance openings for compartments B, C and D are of substantially the same width. Doors 54 56 and 58 are hingedly mounted along one vertical edge as at 60, 62 and 64 to an adjacent post. Doors 54, 56 and 58 may be mounted on hinges which normally bias the doors to an open position inwardly of the compartments as shown by the dotted lines. The opposite edges of doors 54, 56 and 58 have latches as at 66, 68 and 70 for cooperation with a latch keeper on an adjacent post for holding the doors in their closed positions substantially parallel to backwall M.

Standard compartments B, C and D may have a width of around 30 to 36 inches and an entrance opening hav ing a width of around 26 to 32 inches. In a standard toilet compartment of the type described, it is a practical impossibility for a physically handicapped person in a wheelchair to close such a wide inwardly opening door because the wheelchair will interfere with closing movement. In addition, the relatively narrow width of such standard toilet compartments is not sufficient for a wheelchair to be manipulated within the compartment without interferring with the adjacent side walls of the compartment. Standard compartments B, C and D also have a depth, as measured from backwall M to the outer surfaces of posts 42, 44, 57 and 52, of around 57 inches.

In accordance with the present application, toilet compartment A is specially constructed to define a spe cial toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons. Special toilet compartment A is constructed in corner 2% of room 12 as defined by first and second walls 114 and E6. Toilet compartment A has a depth, as measured from backwall lid to the other surfaces of posts 44 and 50, of around 60 inches. The width of special compartment A, as measured from room wall to to the center line of partition 30, is around 53 inches. The entrance opening to toilet compartment A, as measured between facing surfaces of posts 41th and 50, is around 48 inches. Grab bars 74 and 76 of a known type may be installed on partition 36 and wall 16 within special compartment A to aid a physically handicapped person in using the toilet facilities and manipulating himself to and from a wheel chair. A toilet compartment having an entrance opening of around 48 inches also requires a door having a width of substantially 48 inches. Such a wide door would place extreme stress on ordinary hinges and posts. The weight of such a large door, along with its great width, would make it extremely difficult for a physically handicapped person to open. With such a large door being normally biased to a closed position, it also interferes with a physically handicapped person as he attempts to enter and leave the special toilet compartment.

In accordance with the present application, the entrance opening to special toilet compartment A is provided with a pair of first and second doors G and It. First door G is hingedly mounted on a vertical axis along one of its edges as at 80 to post 5f}. Door H is also hingedly mounted on a vertical axis at one of its edges 82 to post 40. Doors G and H together have a combined width to substantially close the entrance opening to special toilet compartment A when the doors are in their closed position extending substantially parallel to backwall 114.

In accordance with a preferred arrangement, second door It has a width substantially less than the width of door G. Preferably, door H is around one half the width of door G. It will be recognized that it is possible to arrange doors G and H such that door G has a width equal to around 65-80 percent of the width of the entrance opening to toilet compartment A, while door H has a width of around 35-20 percent of the width of the entrance opening to special toilet compartment A.

Door G has a pull member 84 secured to the outer surface thereof adjacent one vertical edge thereof closest to door H as by screws in a known manner. cooperating throw latch means I and throw latch keeper means J are mounted on adjacent vertical edges of doors G and H, and on the inner surfaces thereof facing inwardly of special toilet compartment A. Latch means I and latch keeper means J are of known construction, and are briefly shown in FIG. 3.

Latch means I simply includes a bracket member 88 having a plurality of suitable holes therethrough for receiving screws 90 which extend into door G. Latch member I includes a throw bar 92 pivotally attached to bracket 88 for rotational motion about axis 94. A manipulating knob 96 is attached to throw bar 92. Latch keeper means J includes a bracket 98 having suitable holes therethrough for receiving screws 102 which extend into door H. Latch keeper bracket 98 has an outwardly and upwardly bent flange portion 104 positioned in parallel spaced-apart relationship to the main portion of bracket 98 to define an upwardly opening pocket for receiving throw bar 92.

It is preferable that latch means I be located on larger door G so that knob member 96 is located closer to the center of spacial toilet compartment A where it can most easily be reached by a physically handicapped person within special compartment A. Throw bar 92 normally hangs vertically downward. When a person enters compartment A, knob 96 may be grasped to rotate throw bar 92 counterclockwise about axis 94 to position throw bar 92 in the pocket on latch keeper means I for holding doors G and H in a locked position extending substantially parallel to backwall 14. Knob 96 is manually grasped to rotate throw bar 92 clockwise about axis 94 for unlocking the doors.

It will be recognized that special toilet compartment A is also located in a corner of room 112 which is remote from entrance door 26 to room 12 itself. Therefore, physically handicapped persons using special compartment A will not interfere with other persons using standard compartments B, C and D. It will be recognized that other arrangements for the toilet and lavatory locations are also possible. For example, a narrow passageway may be provided when third room wall 22 is positioned substantially closer to first room wall 14. Lavatories E would then be located along wall 24.

In a preferred arrangement, doors G and H are hingedly mounted to the opposite sides of the entrance opening to special toilet compartment A on hinges which normally bias doors G and H to the solid line closed position shown in FlG. 1. Such hinges are of a known construction. Hinges of a known suitable type are disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,904,824 and 3,107,758, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in this specification by reference. The hinges may either be gravity operated by weight of the door or may be spring operated as disclosed in the mentioned patents. The hinges are also of a double-action type as described in the aforementioned patents for allowing both doors G and H to swing either inwardly or outwardly relative to special toilet comparment A. One arrangement of such a hinge is generally shown in FIG. 4.

A hinge bracket member 116 is suitably secured to post 50. Hinge bracket member 116 has a horizontally extending portion 118 on which a pintle K is secured as by a bolt 120. Pintle K has a cylindrical lower portion 122 and a hexagonal upper portion 124. Doors G and H are suitably recessed at their lower corners for receiving pintle K and a comer bracket member L which is secured to the doors. A plurality of washers as at 126 are positioned between the lower surface of corner bracket L and the upper surface of horizontal leg 118 on hinge bracket member 1116. Comer bracket member L has a plurality of upstanding circumferentially spaced lugs 130. A cylindrical cam member M is received over cylindrical portion 122 of pintle K and has a plurality of downwardly extending circumferentially spaced lugs 132 received between lugs 130 on corner bracket member L. Cam member M has an upper cam surface 134 sloping downwardly in opposite directions from a central peak 136.

Another cylindrical cam member N has a hexagonal opening therein through which hexagonal portion 124 of pintle K extends. Cam member N also has a cylindrical portion receiving cam member M. Cam member N has a downwardly facing surface 1133 which is correspondingly shaped to cam surface 134 on cam member M. A. coil spring P is received over hexagonal portion 124 of pintle K and bears against the upper outer surface of cam member N. The upper end of pintle K is suitably tapped for receiving a lock bolt M0 for securing washers M2 to the upper end of pintle K so that spring P may have its opposite end bearing against the washers. Pintle K is secured against rotation relative to hinge bracket H6. When door G is swung inwardly or outwardly relative to compartment A, cam member M rotates with door G and corner bracket L relative to pintle K. Cam member N is fixed against rotation relative to pintle K by hexagonal portion 124 being received through a hexagonal opening in cam member N. Therefore, cam member M rotates relative to cam member N so that the cooperation between cam surfaces 134 and 138 forces cam member N to slide upwardly and compress spring P. The force of spring P bearing downwardly against cam member N, through cooperation of cam surfaces 134 and T38, biases door G to its normally closed position extending substantially parallel to back wall 14. The hinge arrangement for door G is the same as that described with respect to door G except that it is reversely positioned on an opposite edge of door H.

A conventional door stop member 158 may be secured to wall 16 in a position to be struck by the outer surface of door G when door G is in its fully opened position.

The upper hinge for doors G and H may be of any suitable type such as shown in FIG. 5 wherein a hinge bracket 160 has a horizontally extending portion R62 with a vertical hole therethrough received in notch H64 in door G. A metal bracket member R is secured to the upper corner of door G and has a substantially U- shaped portion 166 received in notch 164. A vertically extending hinge pintle 168 extends through suitable holes in bracket R and door G, and through the hole in horizontally extending portion 162 of hinge bracket member 160. The upper end of pintle 168 may be tapped as at 170 for receiving an inserting and removing tool.

In use of the special toilet compartment described, a physically handicapped person may grab door pull 84 on door G and swing it outwardly to the dotted line position shown. The person may then move toward the interior of special compartment A and push smaller door H inwardly relative to special compartment A to the dotted line position shown. The narrow width of door H is such that it will close without interference from a wheelchair or the like when the handicapped person is within special toilet compartment A.

Without having a relatively narrow width for door H, it is easy to see that pushing such a door inwardly would cause it to interfere with the wheelchair or the like and prevent easy closure of the door. Both doors G and H automatically return to their normally closed position parallel to backwall 14 once the physically handicapped person is within special compartment A. Both doors G and H are capable of swinging outwardly to the dotted line position shown so that a physically handicapped person can easily remove himself from within special toilet compartment A.

The location of the special toilet compartment A in the corner of the room prevents any interference with normal traffic flow to the other standard toilet compartments. It will be recognized that it is possible to hingedly mount door G on hinges which will only permit pivotal movement of door G outwardly relative to special compartment A. in the arrangement shown and described, door G is also mounted for pivotal movement inward of toilet compartment A to the dotted line position for convenience. If both doors G and H open only outwardly, they would pinch against a wheelchair or a physically handicapped person otherwise trying to enter toilet compartment A. The arrangement shown and described provides a novel and advantageous access and exit arrangement to an enlarged special toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons. The advantageous arrangement whereby smaller door H may swing either inwardly or outwardly relative to special compartment A makes easy entrance and exit possible. Making doors G and H of substantially the same width would present a problem because door H would then be wide enough to interfere with easy closing movement when it was pushed inwardly due to the fact that it would hit a wheelchair or the like within special compartment A.

Although the invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification. The present invention includes all such equivalent alterations and modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

1. In a toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons, said compartment including a backwall and spaced-apart parallel sidewalls extending substantially perpendicular to said backwall, said compartment having a front opening spaced from said backwall, said sidewalls having spaced-apart surfaces adjacent said opening, a first door hinged on a substantially vertical axis adjacent one of said surfaces for swinging movement from a position substantially parallel to said backwall and partially closing said opening to a position extending outwardly from said compartment, a second door hinged on a substantially vertical axis adjacent the other of said surfaces for swinging movement from a position substantially parallel to said backwall and partially closing said opening to selective positions extending inwardly or outwardly of said compartment, said second door having a width substantially less than the width of said first door, said toilet compartment defining a first compartment, said backwall being defined by a first wall of a room, a plurality of other toilet compartments positioned in parallel spaced-apart relationship adjacent said first compartment and having com mon backwalls defined by said first wall, said other compartments having a width and depth less than said first compartment, a second room wall intersecting said first room wall at substantially a right angle and defining a room corner, said first compartment being positioned in said corner, said one surface adjacent which said first door is hinged being defined by a surface of 

1. In a toilet compartment for physically handicapped persons, said compartment including a backwall and spaced-apart parallel sidewalls extending substantially perpendicular to said backwall, said compartment having a front opening spaced from said backwall, said sidewalls having spaced-apart surfaces adjacent said opening, a first door hinged on a substantially vertical axis adjacent one of said surfaces for swinging movement from a position substantially parallel to said backwall and partially closing said opening to a position extending outwardly from said compartment, a second door hinged on a substantially vertical axis adjacent the other of said surfaces for swinging movement from a position substantially paRallel to said backwall and partially closing said opening to selective positions extending inwardly or outwardly of said compartment, said second door having a width substantially less than the width of said first door, said toilet compartment defining a first compartment, said backwall being defined by a first wall of a room, a plurality of other toilet compartments positioned in parallel spaced-apart relationship adjacent said first compartment and having common backwalls defined by said first wall, said other compartments having a width and depth less than said first compartment, a second room wall intersecting said first room wall at substantially a right angle and defining a room corner, said first compartment being positioned in said corner, said one surface adjacent which said first door is hinged being defined by a surface of said second room wall. 